Heidelberger Spieleverlag

Asmodee has founded HeidelBÄR Games, the first German Studio to join the Asmodee family. They were originally founded as Heidelberger Spieleverlag in 1989 and brought their first successful game to the market in 1992. The studio then published several games and partnered with Fantasy Flight Games and Czech Games Edition to expand its sales network. Then, at the start of 2017, Heidelberger Spieleverlag merged with Asmodee Group as Asmodee Germany.

Carol Rapp, CEO of Asmodee Germany:

“We are very happy that the combination of Asmodee and the former Heidelberger Spieleverlag brings together the best of two worlds. The studio’s creative freedom combined with the strong marketing and retail efforts of Asmodee promises great potential for all sides. That HeidelBÄR Games is the first German studio in this family is a great step into the future of our group.”

The new studio is managed by Heiko Eller-Bilz who had this to say:

“For us it is a great honor to take a place among the other successful Asmodee studios like Fantasy Flight Games, Days of Wonder, Space Cowboys, and Z-Man. As a studio we want to focus on games that build a bridge between family games and hobby games. On games that have that special something.”

HeidelBÄR Games is based in Miltenberg, Germany and the studio is already working on its new games. Visit www.heidelbär.de for their new website to see a catalog of their games and upcoming projects.

The first edition of Talisman Adventure Board Game was published in 1983 which had players travelling a magical world to find ancient relics sand battle fantastic creatures (and each other). and perform epic quests. Once players completed enough quests they entered the inner world to face tougher challenges until they finally reached the Portal of Power to claim the Ultimate Crown.

The first game to expand the Talisman universe will be a children’s game developed by Lukas Zach and Michael Palm and is expected to release in the second half of 2018. Next in the pipeline will be an expandable card game, a role-playing game, and a dice game, though release dates for these will be announced at a later time.

“The Talisman board game has been enjoyed for decades by fans all around the world and is a truly seminal classic,” said Jon Gillard, Head of Licensing at Games Workshop. “We’re excited to be exploring the world of Talisman through these fantastic new games with our partners at Pegasus Spiele. Gamers of all ages have a lot to look forward to.” [source]

Pegasus Spiele are no strangers to the world of Talisman as they (along with Heidelberger Spieleverlag) published the German 4th Edition in 2008. Pegasus Spiele is also the exclusive distributor of the Talisman 4th Edition board game in Europe.

Asmodee starts off the new year with the acquisition of three new companies, this time it’s the European distribution companies Heidelberger, EDGE Entertainment, and Millennium. These three companies handle board game distribution in Germany, Spain, and France so their acquisition will mean a bigger market share in each country for Asmodee. Asmodee always had a close relationship with Heidelberger, and Fantasy Flight Games was partnered with EDGE so their acquisitions come as no surprise. You can read the full press release below for more information, and then continue guessing as to what companies Asmodee will grab up next.

Founded in 1991, Heidelberger Spieleverlag publishes and distributes board games with a unique link to the German hobby shops and has been a long-standing partner and distributor of the Asmodee Group studios Fantasy Flight Games and Plaid Hat Games.

The Asmodee Group is present in Germany since 2008 with a local distribution business unit. The synergy between Asmodee’s expertise in the broad market and Heidelberger’s historic link with the hobby shops will make of this new entity one of the leading actors of the German board game across all channels. This acquisition is the natural next step of a partnership initiated in 2015 when Asmodee and Heidelberger started distributing each other’s catalogue in their respective sales channels.

Founded in 1999, EDGE Entertainment is a board game publisher with presence in Sevilla (SP) and Toulouse (FR). Amongst other games, EDGE holds the rights to the Citadels game in French and Spanish and has been a long-standing partner of the Asmodee Group studio Fantasy Flight Games. EDGE will continue developing new games. Gilles Garnier, co- founder of EDGE Entertainment, is appointed head of EDGE.

Millennium is a Spanish board game distributor specialized in hobby games and retail channels. The Asmodee Group is present in Spain since 2008 with a local distribution business unit. The synergy between Asmodee’s expertise in the broad market and Millennium’s historic link with the hobby shops will make of this new entity one of the leading actors of the Spanish board game distribution across all channels. Jose Manuel Rey CEO of Millennium and co-founder of EDGE Entertainment is appointed head of Asmodee Iberica.

“We are delighted to integrate three great board game companies with the acquisition of Heidelberger, EDGE and Millennium. Throughout the past years they have demonstrated high skills in terms of game publishing and distribution that will now strengthen our position in France, Germany and Spain, that are key local markets.” said Stéphane Carville CEO of Asmodee Group.

“Joining forces with Asmodee, we are building a strong catalogue, an efficient offer of service and support for the broadest audience. We are very happy and are looking forward to the exchange of expertise and knowledge from both sides.”, said Petra Hofstetter, manager of Heidelberg Spieleverlag.

“In Spain Asmodee and Millennium are complementary both in terms of catalogue and access to retail channels. I am very proud to have the opportunity to lead this combined entity.”, said José Manuel Rey, CEO of Millennium.

“EDGE is a studio that has a natural place in the Asmodee Group. We have been long-time business partners of Asmodee studios like Fantasy Flight Games and will continue developing new games within the Group.”, said Gilles Garnier, co-founder of EDGE Entertainment.

Last week, Fantasy Flight Games posted an obituary for Harald Bilz, a big name in the German board game market who had passed away. Harald Bilz was the founder of Heidelberger Spieleverlag, a company that publishes the German versions of games for dozens of companies including big names like Fantasy Flight Games, Iello, and Plaid Hat Games. Some may even know the name of the company from their King of Tokyo Promo Character they handed out at Essen in 2011. As for FFG, they had an especially close relationship with Harald as he became a shareholder in the company when they were building capital to purchase the Star Wars license. So understandably they are sad to see him go, but they are hopefully for the future as the company he helped build continues on in his name.